


Windy and Windy Roads

by nagemeikenu



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Community: hp_drizzle, Domestic Fluff, Drabble, F/M, Fluff, HP Drizzle Fest 2020, Post-Hogwarts, Wind - Freeform, romione
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:00:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25113535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nagemeikenu/pseuds/nagemeikenu
Summary: After a shopping trip in Flourish and Blotts, the wind decides to kidnap Ron’s hat. If only the wind knew what that hat meant to the Granger-Weasleys. If it did, the wind would likely have left it well enough alone.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley
Comments: 7
Kudos: 35
Collections: HP Drizzle Fest 2020





	Windy and Windy Roads

**Author's Note:**

> I was so happy to participate in this year’s Drizzle Fest! I self-prompted, and had it beta’d by [@abradystrix](https://abradystrix.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr. You were so helpful as a beta and I so appreciate your comments/edits. Hope you readers enjoy! <3

The door, as soon as the knob turned, simply flew open. It wasn’t until Ron stepped out that he realized the wind had gone from a playful breeze to blowing everything and anything it could into the next county, roaring with indignation. Honestly, he was just glad it wasn’t quite up to screaming like a bloody banshee. Back in third year, he’d had the unfortunate occasion to hear one. Every now and then, it made him smile at the memory. He turned to his wife to reminisce, but she nearly lost the parchment list she was holding. He saw her lips move and knew that it looked like when she laughed, but couldn’t hear anything above the wind.

“What?” he called to her.

“The wind! It’s stronger than we thought!”

“No kidding!” he shouted back with a laugh. Hermione managed to tuck away the list and keep a good hold on her new books. Likely, the wind had picked up so much because this trip to Flourish and Blotts had become so much longer than they’d initially planned—that was quite normal as far as their shopping experiences went. For his part, after managing to get the door to the shop closed, Ron wrapped an arm around her and tried to use his body to shield hers. He wasn’t quite sure if it worked at all, but it was the thought that counted. He was so focused on Hermione he forgot about his hat, which was soon tugged off his head and sent soaring down the busy Diagon Alley. Ron was stunned at first, too stunned to do anything but watch as it danced down the street, but then he quickly chased after it. 

The hat was just a hat to anyone not privy to Ron’s emotional thoughts. However, Ron was remembering last Christmas, when Hermione had shown him the hat she’d made to match baby Rose’s. He remembered opening the box, seeing two brown, woolen hats. Reaching into the box, he joked that only one would possibly fit him. The other fit within his palm. Hermione had looked at him with tears in her eyes and a huge smile.

_ “Only one is for you,” she’d said, wiping a tear. _

_ “Who’s this one for, then? Looks like it’d only fit a baby…” _

_ “You’re right.” Hermione grabbed his hands with a desperation he instinctively understood. Ron immediately started to grin. _

_ “We’re having a baby.” Ron laughed with the joy of it. “We’re having a baby!” _

The two of them had never had a happier Christmas. Foolishly, Ron thought if he didn’t get that hat back, they’d never have a Christmas like that again. Hermione was running slightly behind him, knowing what that hat meant to Ron, and to her. In the colder months, Ron was never without it.

“There!” She shouted, pointing to the right. Both dodged other shoppers and stalls, crups and kneazles, children and adults alike in their quest to retrieve the brown hat soaring higher with each gust. They panted as they made their way, closer and closer, enjoying the advantage of being able to move around obstacles instead of crashing into them. The hat hit multiple shop signs, streetlamps, walls of buildings, windows, and the occasional wix. Only the owls flying through the air managed to dodge it. Ron and Hermione shouted their “excuse me!”’s, their “sorry!”s, and kept up the brutal pace the wind required for them to keep the hat in sight. Once past people and objects, the obstacles simply ceased to exist in their minds. Like they had so often at school and on the Horcrux hunt, they left chaos in their wake with no real way to rectify it.

“This way!” Ron took Hermione’s arm, guided her into a small alley to the right. Finally, he leapt into the air, reaching for the hat still above them. His fingers caught at the edge of the crown, struggled to hold on. He was able to knock it down slightly, anyway. He jumped again, grasped the side of the hat and managed to hold on. With a sigh of relief, he stuffed the hat in his pocket, and watched as Hermione approached from further away. She was laughing, with pyrope coloured eyes lit with humor and arms still struggling with all the books she’d bought. Her long goddess braids were being tossed about by the wind, her green peacoat being whipped at the sides, and Ron simply fell in love all over again.

He could feel the cap in his pocket as he walked to her. Just in case, he stuffed it further down. Leaning down over the books, he kissed his wife.

Later, when Rose was put to bed and they’d had their fill of Molly’s dinner at the Burrow, Hermione suddenly slammed one of her new books closed.

“Why did we chase the bloody hat?” she demanded.

“What?” Ron looked up from the chessboard, where he’d been playing against himself to test a new strategy.

“Why did we run after that hat?” Hermione looked so completely dumbfounded Ron worried she’d lost her memory.

“You...you knitted it for me, remember? Love, it was how you told me about Rose…”

“What? Yes, I know that.” Hermione stared at him. “Ron, we’re a witch and a wizard.  _ Why did we chase after the bloody thing instead of Summoning it _ ?”

Ron stared right back. He couldn’t believe all the other memories he had swimming through his mind now.

“‘ _ There’s no wood’? Are you a witch or not?! _ ”

“ _ Crookshanks? Are you a wizard or aren’t you? _ ”

After a lengthy silence filled with memories of all the nonsense they’d done at school, the two of them just burst out laughing. Eventually, Ron felt tears sliding down his cheeks, and could see that there were tears slipping down Hermione’s oaken skin. He rose from the chair and moved to the couch with Hermione. He lifted her into his lap, snuggled her close. Their tears and memories mingled, and though so much had changed throughout the years, here they were together.

Here they were, inseparable, walking the windy road of life hand in hand.


End file.
